Bubbles and Goldfish Teether Crochet Pattern

If you voted to see the goldfish teether crochet pattern, friends, this is your day! I swear, I feel like I’ve been working on this project for AGES, and I just keep procrastinating. But hey, sometimes, procrastination isa good thing. As with most of my projects, the inspiration for this came from a little necessity and from my kids. So, let’s just say that “Necessity and kids are the mothers of invention”.

J watches tv, like all kids do, and as much as I hate to admit it, Netflix makes for a pretty decent babysitter. So does Disney movies. His show du jour recently has been Jake and the Neverland Pirates, which is an odd mix of Peter Pan and not Peter Pan. And even stranger still, I’m catching up on Once Upon a Time, with Captain Hook and Peter Pan, but in a whole different premise. Aaanywho. Somehow, in the course of watching his pirate show, he decided to take one of the sticks from our Fort Magic set and brandish it about as … a fishing pole. Nope, not sword, but a fishing pole. And he wanted a bit of my yarn as the string. I love his imagination, as long as it doesn’t knock over any glass objects, and I felt that he was missing something. Fishing pole, fishing line… WHERE’S THE FISH AT?!

Honestly, I don’t think he cared whether he had fish at the end of his line. I think at some point, he was fishing for Lightning McQueen. But I decided I wanted to crochet a fish. And if you give this mommy mouse a cookie, I’m going to want a glass of milk and a teething toy to go with it. Because at this point, we cannot have too many teething toys in this house. And rattles. Because did you know? The fish is also a rattle! Yup-er-doodles. 5 guesses on what the rattle is made from…

I wanted to give Lion Brand Bonbons Yarn a try, so I grabbed a pack of their cotton variety, appropriately named “Beach” for my fish-capades.

Abbreviations:

Assembly:

I’m going to describe the assembly first because the fish is actually created after the rest of the teether has been assembled.

1. Cut a long length of twill ribbon.

2. Attach the teether ring at about the halfway point in the ribbon and tie a knot to secure.

3. Thread the finished crochet balls or bare beads in the order you desire, tying a knot in between each bead to secure. When you crochet the beads, you’ll want to leave the beginning and end a bit loose so the ribbon can pass through the crochet.

4. Thread both ends of the ribbon through a wooden bead and tie a knot to secure.

5. Start crocheting the goldfish. After a few round, thread the ribbon through the magic ring of the goldfish and tie a square knot on the inside of the goldfish.

6. Continue working the goldfish. Once you start decreasing the rounds, stop and create the side fins by looping the ribbon ends out and back into the crochet piece, using small knots to secure.

7. The egg rattle, if you’re adding it, goes in after the fins are looped. You can add a bit of fiberfill stuffing around it if it fits.

8. Once the fish is complete, go back and sew the side fins to the crochet fish to really secure it well. Grabby hands can pull the knotted ends right out if you don’t.

Easter Egg Rattle:

I had some leftover plastic easter eggs, so I grabbed a super small one and used it to make a “rattle”.

Form several tiny balls with the polymer clay. Color doesn’t matter. Cure them in the microwave in a plastic container full of water for about 5 minutes. See detailed instructions here.

Once the polymer clay balls are dry, put them in the plastic egg and seal the egg shut with tape. Shake it to hear your rattle.

Goldfish:

This is worked in closed rounds so the fish doesn’t come out lopsided.

Round 1: Work 6 sc into a magic ring. Join to first SC with a slip stitch.

Round 2: Ch 1. Work 1 sc into the same stitch as the Ch. Work 2 sc in each of the next 5 stitches, and only 1 sc in last st. Join to first sc with slip stitch. (12 sts)

Round 3: Ch 1. Work 1 sc into the same stitch as the Ch. *Work 1 sc in next st, followed by 2 sc in next st.* Repeat from * 4 times. Work 1 sc in next 2 sts. oin to first SC with sl st. (18 sts)

Round 4: Ch 1. Work 1 sc in the same stitch as the Ch. *Work 1 sc in next 2 sts, followed by 2 sc in next st. * Repeat from * 4 times. Work 1 sc in next 3 sts. Join to first SC with sl st. (24 sts)

Round 5: Ch 1. Work 1 sc in the same stitch as the Ch. *Work 1 sc in next 3 sts, followed by 2 sc in next st.* Repeat from * 4 times. Work 1 sc in next 4 sts. Join to first sc with sl st. (30 sts)

Round 6-10: Ch 1. Work 1 sc in the same stitch as the Ch. Work 1 sc in each st around. Join to first sc with sl st. (30 sts)

Round 11: Ch 1. Work 1 sc in the same stitch as the Ch. Work 1 SC in next 12 sts. sc2tog. Work 1 sc in next 13 sts. sc2tog. Join to first sc with sl st. (28 sts)

Add some fiberfill stuffing at the front of the fish and insert the egg rattle around now, before the rounds get too small.

Round 12: Ch 1. Work 1 sc in the same stitch as the Ch. Work 1 SC in next 11 sts. sc2tog. Work 1 sc in next 12 sts. sc2tog. Join to first sc with sl st. (26 sts)

Round 13: Ch 1. Work 1 sc in the same stitch as the Ch. Work 1 SC in next 10 sts. sc2tog. Work 1 sc in next 11 sts. sc2tog. Join to first sc with sl st. (24 sts)

Round 14: Ch 1. Work 1 sc in the same stitch as the Ch. Work 1 SC in next 9 sts. sc2tog. Work 1 sc in next 10 sts. sc2tog. Join to first sc with sl st. (22 sts)

Round 15: Ch 1. Work 1 sc in the same stitch as the Ch. Work 1 SC in next 8 sts. sc2tog. Work 1 scC in next 9 sts. sc2tog. Join to first sc with sl st. (20 sts)

Round 16: Ch 1. Work 1 sc in the same stitch as the Ch. Work 1 SC in next 7 sts. sc2tog. Work 1 sc in next 8 sts. sc2tog. Join to first sc with sl st. (18 sts)

Round 17: Ch 1. Work 1 sc in the same stitch as the Ch. sc2tog. *Work 1 sc in next st. sc2tog.* Repeat from * 4 more times. Join to first sc with sl st. (12 sts)

Round 18: Ch 1. sc2tog every 2 sts. Do not join. (6 sts)

Flatten the round and slip stitch through 2 sts at a time. (3 sts)

The fins get a bit funky so the instructions aren’t exact. You’ll need to join the fins wherever you see fit.

Fins:

Ch 13. Sc in 2nd ch from hook. Sc in each ch down to base. (12 sts)

Ch 1. Turn. Sc in 2nd st, hdc in each of next 3 sts, tr in each of next 3 sts, dc in each of next 3 sts, hdc in next st, sc in next sc. Ch 1. Sc in next sc, hdc in next st, dc in each of next 3 sts, tr in each of next 3 sts, hdc in each of next 3 sts, sc in last st. The last sc is to secure the fin.

Work 1 sc into the middle of the 3 flattened stitches to get you to the other side of the fish, and 1 sc in the last stitch before starting the 2nd fin. For the 2nd fin, you might need to add a twist in order for the two fins to face the same direction. This is where the “fudging” comes into play. Do whatever works.

Once the second fin is complete, fasten off and weave in ends.

I hope this pattern works for you! Feel free to play with the pattern or ask for clarifications, but please refrain from critiquing or criticizing my crocheting and/or pattern-writing style – I truly did wing it, especially towards the end.

You are welcome to sell finished products using this pattern; however, I ask that you do not sell or redistribute the pattern itself. If you do sell items, it would be lovely if you can include a link to this post in your listing!

Thank you SO much for letting us have this free pattern! I have a “first” grandchild and of course am wanting to make everything I see. But, I can meet my goals with items like this a little easier. Thank you again! So-so Cute!

This is absolutely adorable. When the pattern came up featured from Lion Brand on Facebook I knew I had to check it out. I don’t have babies anymore and it is too soon for grandchildren, but this is definitely being bookmarked in my “wanna do when appropriate” file!

This really caught my eye, and I can’t stop looking at it! My own baby shower is tomorrow and I’m seriously considering making this today and giving it to myself tomorrow, just so everyone can see how amazing it is! Thanks so much for the pattern!

Hi, thank you for the wonderful pattern! Do you know approximately how big your plastic egg was? Since it’s out of season, I’m trying to find an alternative same sized filler for the goldfish. Thanks for any help!

Thanks so much for these patterns! I had bookmarked the hedgehog taggie a long time ago, and finally had a reason (and time!) to make it. Then I couldn’t NOT make this one too! I ended up fudging a rattle for the fish out of a lip balm sized metal tin, but another alternative would be a cat bell. It would be about the right size if it is out of season for Easter eggs.

I really LOVE these toys but….what I keep asking myself, is there nobody aware of the fact that these toys, as many others, are made to chew on or put in the babies mouth…..with allll these chemicals in the cotton…it sounds natural, but it is far from that. Babies get a lot of chemicals with all the plastic toys and also with these.
I make everything with bio or ecoyarn, it may be not good also, but is always better.
If we would ask more for that yarn it would be easier to get, because there is really little on the market.
But, all that said, I LOVE THESE….

I am a beginner. I did fine with the balls but I’m having trouble with the bumpy seam on the fish as well as where to start and end the rounds. I have ripped it out several times bc I was adding stitches in each row, etc.

I was thinking of making this for my nephew, who is currently teething, but I’ve never made a baby product that was made to be chewed on before! For the wooden items, should I get the untreated items or the treated ones? The treated ones (even though it’s only coconut oil!) seem unsafe for little mouths but I’m afraid untreated ones might splinter…